The invention relates to conveyor systems, and more particularly to a system having an endless chain of container links which move at high speeds between stations and at low speeds in stations.
The type of conveyor motion to which the invention relates is shown generally in Kruckenberg U.S. Pat. No. 1,725,653, Iritani U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,763, and my reissue U.S. Pat. No. 26,673 (original: 3,320,903). In such motion a plurality of links of an endless driven chain ride on guide rails which direct them into end to end horizontal orientation for traveling between stations, but into stacked together side by side orientation at stations. The links thus travel at a much slower rate in the stations than between stations, the speed ratio being the ratio of the effective stacking width of the links to their effective lengths when stretched out end to end.
There is a need for an inexpensive, high-speed way of moving many materials, including for example coal and grain, which must often be transported over very long distances. Conventional transportation systems have proven highly expensive and often too time consuming for the transportation of such materials from very remote locations to the areas in which they will be used. For coal, a suggested solution has been to crush the coal, then mix it with a large portion of water to form a slurry which may be pumped through a pipeline to the destination. Such an undertaking requires extremely thick pipeline walls in order to withstand abrasion wear and the high pressures required for movement of the slurry, perhaps up to about 3,000 pounds per square inch. Even at such pressures, a slurry of 50% coal and 50% water would move at only a few feet per second through a relatively large diameter pipeline. Because of flow resistance and the fact that water as well as coal would be moved, such a system would demand a large amount of energy to operate. Also, large amounts of water must be supplied at the loading point and, following a separation process at the end point, must be somehow disposed of in a partially contaminated condition. If the piping is made of steel for the required strength, only a relatively short life could be expected, perhaps thirty years.